It is well known in the art that certain processes, for example, etching can cause in line charging of devices/memory, that can cause non-uniformity of charge in the device/memory and therefore result in poor memory performance (e.g., program and/or erase losses due to high threshold voltage (Vt), etc.). Wafer charging damage during IC processing and manufacturing steps is the result of complex interactions between the wafer environment and the wafer. Charge trapping in the charge storage materials can result in, for example, threshold voltage shifts, increased junction leakage, etc. Scaling down of semiconductors devices to meet ever increasing performance demands for devices can also result in increased leakage current, threshold voltage variability, and the like, both within and across wafer dies. There is a strong need for manufacturing approaches that address these problems in an efficient and cost effective manner, for example.
Charging damage of various devices typically occurs during metal and/or poly etch, dielectric deposition, via formation and/or other charge creating processes used to manufacture the semiconductor device. The damage can result when ions and electrons are introduced by a plasma process bombarding the surface of a metal structure that is electrically connected to a transistor device. The plasma ions and electrons can force current through a thin gate oxide by way of conductive structures connected electrically to the gate oxides. If adequate charge is transported through the oxide, the operational lifetime of the device can be reduced significantly, the device may fail during the charging process itself, and the like.
Charge can also accumulate on a semiconductor surface until catastrophic breakdown or an electrostatic discharge (ESD) event occurs. ESD events can damage, for example, semiconductors, photo-masks, hard-masks, and the like. Electrostatic discharge can also produce electrical signals or electromagnetic interference (EMI) that interferes with the operation of equipment, such as, the production equipment. These ESD problems can occur, for example, throughout the semiconductor manufacturing and packaging process, including silicon wafer creation, photo-mask layering and etching, device manufacturing, back-end processing, packaging and test. Many of these ESD problems can persist throughout the entire “life cycle” of the semiconductor device. In addition damage may be more subtle and more difficult to detect, for example, permanent alteration of the dielectric breakdown properties.
Implanted dopant ions, well known in the art, are electrically charged, a consequence of the ion implantation process. Charge imbalance related with ion implantation is attributed to a number of occurrences, for example, ejection of secondary electrons, discharge of other charged species from the wafer, absorption of ions from surrounding area, and the like. The charging properties or effects associated with ion implantation are difficult to model and/or measure. Furthermore, the charge distribution will fluctuate over the surface of the wafer because of variations in the ion beam, the variable characteristics of the wafer surface, surface areas of the wafer with different conductivities, excess charge already present on the wafer, etc. Excess charge distributions can vary from wafer to wafer, as well. All of these factors contribute to non-uniform charge distributions on the wafer surface which can have serious consequences on semiconductors devices that are continuously being reduced in size. Semiconductor manufacturing technologies will continue to move toward smaller device geometries in the foreseeable future and acceptable ESD levels will continue to decrease with decreasing device dimensions, as well as the need for uniform charge distributions.
Thus, there is a critical need to provide a method which improves the charge distribution but which does not suffer from the problems that are currently present with processes, such as gate leakage, unacceptable threshold voltages, ESD events, and the like, and to do so in an affordable way.